


Winter Wonderland

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Primeval
Genre: Fluff, M/M, The start of something, Trapped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 07:59:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7676473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the lovely telperion_15 who gave the prompt “out in the cold”. Set during series 1.</p><p>Originally posted to Livejournal in 2008.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Winter Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

  * For [telperion_15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/gifts).



> Written for the lovely telperion_15 who gave the prompt “out in the cold”. Set during series 1.
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal in 2008.

The anomaly glittered in the winter sun, looking like a benign and beautiful crystal. Lester contemplated it for a moment and then harrumphed, loudly, his mouth pinching at the corners. Beautiful or not the thing was a damned nuisance.

“Some of us have family to get back to,” Lester snapped in Cutter’s direction. Cutter looked up from the laptop he and Connor were crouched over.

“You don’t need to be here,” Cutter told him.

Lester gave a long-suffering sigh. “You told me that you had something important you wanted to show me.” He said the words very slowly, enunciating each one and enjoying Cutter’s obvious annoyance at the tactic.

“Well, now I don’t.”

Lester looked at Connor who ducked his head. “You mean this nitwit thought he had something, but as usual he was talking out of his arse?”

Connor flushed, but didn’t deny it. Cutter glared at Lester but before he could defend Connor’s honour, a loud howling rent the air.

They all looked up in the direction of the anomaly, the soldiers raising their weapons, but the anomaly didn’t look any different than it had before. Slowly, Lester took a step forward but nothing happened. Just as his shoulder’s started to slump in relief another howl sent birds flying into the sky and he found all the air rushing out of his lungs as he was flung forward, right into the anomaly.

* * * *

Lester swallowed hard and tried to get his eyes to work. He opened them and then closed them before opening them again. Everywhere still looked white. It took him a moment to realise that was because he was lying face first on a large mound of snow.

“You okay?” a voice asked him from very far away. All he could do was moan in response.

“Lester…are you okay?” This time the voice came closer and he realised that it was Captain Ryan talking to him. Ryan put his hands underneath Lester’s armpits and hauled him up to a sitting position. If he had been able Lester would have squawked at the indignity of it all, but as it stood all he could do was offer a muffled curse in response.

Ryan gave him a cursory glance, his hands travelling all over Lester’s body, but his eyes staring out into the distance.

“ –at happened?” Lester finally managed to ask. His head throbbed but he didn’t think that anything was broken. Ryan certainly didn’t appear too concerned.

“Something was lurking in the woods behind us, back at the anomaly site. It was heading straight for you so…” He shrugged. Lester frowned. Something wasn’t quite right…

“What do you mean, “back at the anomaly site”? Surely we’re…” Lester stopped, his mouth dropping open. It hadn’t been snowing then. And even if it had started, that didn’t explain why there were no signs of life anywhere. “God dammit.”

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed. “It closed right after we went through.”

“And you couldn’t have aimed away from it?” Lester asked.

Ryan glared at him but Lester refused to be cowed. Even if Ryan did have a large gun in his hand. “I was saving your life. I’ll remember not to bother next time.”

“Won’t do me any good if I freeze to death, will it?” Lester replied bitterly. It had taken him some time to notice but now he realised that he couldn’t quite feel his toes. It was only a matter of time before the rest of him went the same way.

He looked up at Ryan to snarl some more, but Ryan was shivering in his own jacket and Lester suddenly didn’t have the energy. As with most things to do with the Anomaly Project, those involved were just trying to do their best – even if that could be described as a waste of time.

“Any idea when it might reopen?” Lester asked, before blowing on his fingertips. Ryan looked down at him before carrying on his survey of the area. At least there didn’t seem to be any predators about.

“No.”

“Well, we should share body heat then. We might be here a while.”

Ryan blinked. Then blinked again. Dinosaurs. Anomalies. Bonkers scientists. These were all in a days work. But a civil servant offering to share body heat with him? That was deeply weird.

“Well, man, I won’t ask you again!” Lester snapped. Ryan shook his head in bewilderment but then settled down next to Lester, pulling him closer. Insufferable he might be, but in this instance he also happened to be right.

Shivering they sat next to each other in silence. Ryan hadn’t had much call for conversations with Lester – he usually dealt with Claudia and Lester couldn’t imagine he had anything in common with the soldier.

“I’m sure Cutter will think of something,” Ryan said eventually. Normally he had no problem remaining silent in the field, but there was something about the proximity of the other man that was starting to make him feel uncomfortable. Lester grunted.

“We could play I-Spy?” Ryan finally suggested. Lester’s glare could have curdled milk. “Well, what do you suggest?”

“Silence. Blissful, uncomplicated silence.”

Ryan shrugged. He could do silence. So as they huddled together, snow starting to fall around them, Ryan found himself feeling surprisingly content. Lester rested his head on Ryan’s shoulder and Ryan grinned widely, glad that Lester couldn’t see. Maybe this little trip into the past wasn’t so bad after all.


End file.
